


through the years

by bookworm2692



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom, Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Time Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24519448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm2692/pseuds/bookworm2692
Summary: diana dies and sigma is alone on the moon. to cope with the pain, sigma begins waking phi up from cold sleep for a few days at a time. he continues ageing, but she doesn't
Relationships: Sigma Klim & Phi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	through the years

three years after arriving on the moon, diana dies. she’s there one moment, gone the next. suddenly all alone, sigma buries diana in the garden, buries his grief deep inside himself, and buries himself in his work. he tries not to think about the hole in his chest where diana once lived, about the three people asleep in the treatment pods downstairs. he tries not to think about how if he woke phi up, he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. tries not to think about it, because he knows it would ruin all their hard work if she grew and aged with him. 

it’s november 2032 and sigma can’t stand the silence anymore. he wakes phi up. surely a few days awake won’t change the outcome of the project? they hug, and sigma tells phi how much he missed her. she does not repeat the sentiment as she last saw him an hour ago. he tells her about diana, about his work. phi has not yet met diana, but sigma knows she will, once they’re through with this. the knowledge that he will see diana again fuels him. sigma is currently 26, but phi is still 20. she jokes about how he’s getting old, he laughs. after a few days phi reminds sigma that he should put her back to sleep. regretfully, he does.

he doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2033, and sigma throws himself into his work. he tries not to think about those precious days with phi, his only bright spot in the year after diana’s untimely death. if he thinks too much on phi, he won’t be able to stop himself from waking her up again. november comes, and all sigma can think about is phi. surely it can’t hurt if he wakes her up again, he reasons with himself. he wakes her up, tells her about his past year. he is 27 and she is still 20. she jokes about how he’s such an old man already. the day after phi’s fourth birthday, not that either of them know it, she goes back to sleep.

he doesn’t tell akane about this.

this pattern continues over the years. sigma wakes phi up on the fourteenth or fifteenth of november, usually. sometimes earlier. he tells her what’s been happening during the past year, as he turns 28, then 29, then 30, then 35, then 40, while phi’s body is still 20. she jokes about him getting old, until she doesn’t, because he _is_ getting old, and it hurts to see him so much older than a week ago, a month ago to her. sigma shows her around rhizome 9 as it grows. they always celebrate on the sixteenth of november, although neither of them ever understand why. it’s just tradition now, after these long years (these short weeks). neither want phi to go back to sleep for another year, but they know she must, so into the pod she goes again every year on the seventeenth, or sometimes eighteenth.

he doesn’t tell akane about this.

its 2049, and sigma is 43 years old, and phi is still 20. but this time it’s actually her twentieth birthday, and she’s finally the age she’s supposed to be, but neither of them know it. neither of them mention that sigma is now old enough to be her father. they smile and laugh, and phi helps sigma in the lab for the day. they pretend this is normal, that phi is here by her friend’s side every day. they pretend they are still the same age when they joke together, and then sigma returns phi to her sleep.

he doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2051, and his clone has been successfully born. sigma is 45 and phi is 20. he shows her the clone, talks excitedly about the successful science. phi refers to the baby as kyle, stopping sigma in his tracks as he realises he forgot to name the clone. kyle. he’ll try not to forget that, but he will. kyle was a successful scientific procedure, but sigma’s spent so many years now focused on the goal and his precious few days with phi, that he will often forget that he has another, permanent, human on base with him. but for now, he repeats the name kyle to himself, and then goes to spend the rest of the next few days hanging out with phi elsewhere, and then she goes back to sleep.

he doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2057, and luna is complete. sigma is ecstatic when he shows phi that year. kyle has already rejected luna, but phi doesn’t. phi is happy for sigma, but he is 51 and she is still 20. she doesn’t tell sigma he’s old anymore, and hasn’t for years (hasn’t for weeks). phi hasn’t met diana, but she did meet luna, before. she’s glad to see luna again, and then returns to her treatment pod.

sigma doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2065, and sigma has spent all year looking forward to the reprieve that is phi’s visit every november. kyle is 14 and sigma has been forgetting him. luna is 8, but she and the other gaulem are self sufficent. sigma is 59 and tired, and phi is still 20. she’s been closer to kyle in age than sigma ever since kyle’s birth. sigma isn’t aware of how old he is now, since he doesn’t like looking in mirrors anymore. but he can see it in phi’s face, he can see as she mentally has to readjust what he looks like since last week, last month (last decade). neither of them mention it out loud. if it’s not mentioned, then it’s not real, isn’t it? they both look forward to when they can return to 2028, and for sigma to be young again, even though he’ll forever be old in mind. they ignore all of this, and just pretend everything is okay, everything is normal. it’s all they can do.

phi returns to sleep, and sigma doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2073, and the last november before the third nonary game is due to occur. ever since akane joined them on the moon, it’s gotten harder and harder for sigma to wake phi without akane knowing. maybe akane does know, but she doesn’t say anything, so sigma will continue to pretend he hasn’t been waking his best friend up every year for the past 40 years. he wakes phi and he is 67 years old, but she’s still 20, and still so young. she’s younger than kyle now, not that sigma has noticed. phi looks at sigma, and she finally sees the man she last saw five and a half months ago, or forty five years ago, or in two months. time is strange, and runs differently for the two of them, and has done for the whole of their lives. they don’t talk about the upcoming nonary game, remembering full well how it will turn out. they talk instead of 2028, of the next time they’ll see each other, and in better circumstances. sigma can’t imagine how he would have survived these long long years on the moon without seeing phi for a few days in november every year. phi is glad she got to be a part of this phase of the plan, even in a very small part. they don’t talk about kyle, or luna, or tenmyouji, quark, clover, alice, all those they are dooming to life up here while they get to return to earth in the past. they have one final toast, to celebrate phi’s birthday, a fact that they will learn soon, forty five years ago.

phi returns to sleep, and sigma doesn’t tell akane about this.

it’s 2028, and sigma is 22 again, though his mind is old, and phi is with him again. this time, she’s not a secret. this time they can properly spend time together. they go to dcom with akane, prepared to save the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this prompt on tumblr “how many times do u think sigma considered waking phi up from cold sleep in the 40+ years after diana died and he was completely alone”, and this happened. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback/comments are welcome!


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